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Teen Pleads Guilty To OWI In Crash That Injured School Worker

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HOWELL (WWJ/AP) - A 16-year-old Michigan high school student who authorities say struck a security officer with a vehicle in a school parking lot has pleaded guilty in the case.

The teen entered the plea Monday to operating a vehicle while intoxicated and causing injury. The teen, who also entered a plea to possession of marijuana, is due back in court on Nov. 19 for sentencing.

The Livingston County Sheriff’s Department said charges stem from a crash on May 15 at Hartland High School in Hartland Township, about 40 miles northwest of Detroit.

Officials say the teen sprayed a household product from an aerosol can into a rag and passed out after inhaling it. His car crashed into 52-year-old Susan Hazzard, who was directing traffic in the school’s parking lot.

Police say the vehicle traveled through the intersection, over a curb and through a field, where it sideswiped a tree before coming to a stop, the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus reported.

Hazzard was hospitalized with critical injuries and is continuing to recover at home.

The sheriff’s department was initially told the teen dropped something on the floor in the car and bent down to get it but hit the gas pedal instead.